why do programs stop responding in windows 7

And to take it even further, if this is at least the second time in as many years that this has happened, it seems time to take a step back and evaluate what it is you're doing that is leading to these problems. Using Internet Explorer is the obvious one, but we can't lay the blame solely at Internet Explorer's doorstep. While it is most definitely quite a bit harder, it is possible to use Internet Explorer and still avoid malware in its various forms. Of course the rather toxic combination of Internet Explorer and the cesspool that can be Facebook will really make it so someone has their work cut out for them. Personal opinions about Facebook aside, plenty of malware will use it as an infection vector, hijacking someone's account and posting a bunch of crap hoping that people will see it and click on it to help it spread. That's before you get to how Facebook is shamelessly selling you and your data to advertisers. As the saying goes: If something is free, it's not the product, you are.

The fact that this WinZip program came into play somehow or another would tend to suggest that the OP has some habits that need changing. Then again, I seem to be in the minority. Instead of accepting the inevitability of this kind of garbage getting onto my system and just worrying about cleaning it up after it gets to be a problem, I prefer to use my 10ft pole to keep it at bay. I'm willing to change the programs I use and the way I use them if it means a greater probability that I will not have to deal with malware. After all, who knows how long something has been lurking on your system and what it may have reported back to someone, by the time it gets to be a problem. It could have been there for weeks or months even. Everything you did between the time that program wormed its way onto your system and you excised it is now potentially exposed. Every username and password for every site you visited, every credit card number entered in to make a purchase, all are now potentially in the hands of some ne'er do well anywhere in the world.

I think it would be refreshing if CNet took the lead on helping educate average computer users on ways to avoid malware as opposed to simply cleaning up the mess left behind. There certainly seems to be a void when it comes to that kind of information, so all we need is for someone to step forward and take the lead.UPDATE: after finally not having the "NOT RESPONDING" problem for several months, suddenly it is BACK with a vengeance. PP Even while typing this comment I have experienced Firefox going into NOT RESPONDING mode for over 2 minutes without any option except to wait or reboot the browser by crashing it forcefully from Task manager. I have tried setting Firefox to HIGH priority in Task manager, but that only shortens the NOT RESPONDING bug from 2 minutes down to a few seconds.

IT STILL HAPPENS! I will note that this problem only re-surged to an every-few-minutes occurrence with the latest forced Win7 SP update. how annoying! IDK what caused it to end before or what exactly caused it to start up again. I have not changed anything except the occasional Firefox update and Win7 update. I plan to upgrade my computer some time around the holidays this year, but in the mean time, my wife's computer, which has LESS RAM and a SMALLER hard drive, but all the same stuff from the same manufacturer -- her father -- is twice as fast as mine. This is getting annoying. Oh, and for those who want me to switch to Linux or Mac, you can go jump in a lake and take your computer with ya, cuz those OS's are just too weird to switch to. Even a DOS programmer who has never seen WINDOWS before would hesitate to switch from WIN7 to any MAC or Linux system --- in my opinion. Sorry --- too much caffeine.